Another Second Chance

Six years ago, a kidney transplant saved my life. Now I need a new one

- CRISTINA HOWORUN

MY FATHER WAS 50 when he died of complications from kidney disease in 2003. The condition is genetic, so I had a nephrologist before I was a year old. I also got regular blood work and followed a strict diet: low protein, low fat, low sodium. Every specialist I saw thought I'd be spared by the deadly disease that lingered in my genes.

In 2018, I was in my mid-30s, healthy and fit, working as a journalist for City TV. But, in early spring of that year, I found myself struggling with a series of symptoms. I had insomnia. I was exhausted all the time. I was bone-chillingly cold and so itchy that I'd scratch myself until I bled.

I took a blood pressure test at a grocery store, and a stroke-level reading of 190 compelled me to see my doctor. She prescribed blood pressure medication and ordered blood work, but I wasn’t too worried.

A week later, I was leaving a media conference when I noticed several missed calls and voicemails from my doctor. As I was listening to them, she called again. I needed to go to the ER right away, she said; I was in kidney failure. I couldn't believe it. How does a healthy person go from not having kidney disease to being in the end stages? I went to the ER thinking it was a big misunderstanding. Blood tests confirmed it wasn’t. I had eight per cent kidney function.